Korea 2026 is not just Korea of the early 2000s with taller buildings, faster internet, AI everywhere, more Dubai chocolate, and increasingly outrageous beauty standards. It is that, of course. But alongside all the hardware upgrades, there has also been a change in culture and civic behavior. My early adventures in Korea were an attack on the senses. And not in the way it is today for millions of people shopping in Olive Young, drinking fancy Americanos, and vibing by the Han River with a wide range of foreign booze and biscuits. At the turn of the millennium, the place smelled a lot different. The garlic poured out of the ajjoshis on the subway in the morning. Kimchi got into every nook and cranny. Soju was an ever-present, giving the city an almost ethereal ethanol bath. It was still common to find bondaegi on most corners. And if you’ve never turned a corner and got a blast of hot silkworm cooking in a street vendor’s pot, have you ever really lived in Korea? But it wasn’t just the smells. It was also the noise. I was constantly looking behind me as people hocked up half thei